Fairfax County receives grant to hire Safe Routes to School Coordinator

Fairfax County Public Schools recently received a grant from the Virginia Safe Routes to School program to hire a full-time Safe Routes to School coordinator. Hiring a SRTS coordinator has been a major goal of FABB for the past several years. We worked closely with Doug O'Neill of Fairfax County Public Schools, Christine Green, the Greater Washington DC Regional Policy Manager, and members of the School Board to develop the grant proposal. Thanks to Doug and Christine for their hard work. Thanks to the School Board for their support, and thanks also to Jeff Anderson of FABB who led our effort.

The coordinator will be working with school staff, parents, FABB, and others to encourage more kids to walk and bike to school. We're hoping this will mean improved bicycle and pedestrian safety education for all county school children, more events like Walk to School and Bike to School Days, improved bicycle infrastructure, and a safer biking and walking environment around schools.

VDOT Awards Four Non-infrastructure Grants
Four school communities were recently awarded SRTS non-infrastructure grants. The school submitted their application for funding in December 2012, with an eye on implementing programs in the 2013-2014 school year. The grants are an important resource for school communities that intend to establish life-long walking and bicycling habits for their youth and to foster a sustainable safe routes to school culture within each community.

Fairfax County Public School, $99,300

Division-wide program with SRTS coordinator at 165 schools. Activities include local SRTS training and toolkits, walk/bike to school day activities, and program evaluation.